Friday, August 26, 2011

My first reader question comes from Scott (no last name given), and he asks:
"In Season 3, episode 12, Jus In Bello, Sam and Dean reveal tattoos on the left side of their chests as a way of protection from being possessed. Did you decide to research the symbol? Can you give any information about it?"

Yes, Scott. I did research the origins of this symbol. Due to certain writing constraints regarding the use of images, however, it was not included in the book. However, I am more than happy to share that research here on the blog.

I looked for weeks before I found this (which, for me, is a really long time to look for something) in an excellent reference source, The Dictonary of Symbols by Carl G. Liungman (I've had this on my shelves for years, and it comes in handy far more often than one might expect).

The book offers a very similar (though, admittedly, not identical) symbol to the protection tattoo Sam and Dean have. Here is an image of that symbol:

This emblem is commonly found on clothing in regions of Ghana, and is meant to symbolize the Eastern Star (represented by the 5-pointed star), planet Venus (symbolized by the circle within the star), and the solar cycle/beginning of a new day (symbolized by the sun that surrounds the star, which is meant to represent rotation).

Linguistically, the symbol is supposed to mean Sesa woruban, which generally translates as "Change in life" or, more personally, "I change/transform my own life."

Now, please understand that there is no way to prove that the creators of Supernatural had this symbol in mind when they created the design of the protective tattoo used on the show. And I want to make it clear that I am making no such claim here. This is simply the most similar symbol that I was able to track down in my research.

Well, that's one response down. I will continue to do these once a week until I run out of questions. So, if you have a question related to The Mythology of Supernatural, send it to me in the comments here on the blog.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Please accept my apologies for being unable to start posting my responses to questions this week, as I had originally intended. My life has been uber-nuts the last two weeks, as you can probably imagine, between my daily work and all the additional craziness that comes with having a new book come out. Please know that your questions are certainly NOT forgotten. And I fully intend to start posting responses on Monday (8/22).

My most sincere thanks, as always, to everyone in the Supernatural Family/Fandom for your interest and support!

Monday, August 8, 2011

So I realized the other day that I should probably give everyone time to actually READ the Mythology of Supernatural book before I expect to you all to start sending me questions.

However, I also realized that now would probably be a good time to send out some prompts.

I want your questions, folks!

If you read the book and are wondering why I did or did not cover a particular topic, I want to hear about it.

Perhaps you have NOT bought/read the book because you are worried that it will just be more of the same? Or maybe you are thinking that it won't tell you anything you don't already know. Well ... ASK me about it, and I will let you know (I should say, I will let you know what topics are at least COVERED in the book, but I have to draw the line at spoilers).

NRB

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About Me

Nathan Robert Brown (1977-present) is an author, pop culture mythologist, and technical writer from Texas, currently residing in Florida. He received the 2008 Harry Brown Award for The Rape of Lilith. Nathan has done extensive research in world mythology, folklore, urban legends, ancient civilizations, and world religions, and is an expert on trinities/tripartite systems and universal themes in myth, religion, mysticism, and pop culture. He is the author of many books, such as The Complete Idiot's Guide to World Mythology, World Religions at Your Fingertips, The Mythology of Supernatural, and The Mythology of Grimm. Nathan is also a public speaker and pro-bono demonology consultant